Controversial BJJ Rivalry Spills Into Jon Jones vs Tom Aspinall Fight Build-Up After Dana White’s Guarantee

When Jack Della Maddalena beat Belal Muhammad to become the king of the welterweights at UFC 315, no one could’ve possibly known what was about to unfold next. Besides Maddalena, one more man shone that day, he wasn’t in the octagon; he was cornering Jack Della Maddalena. The most talked-about point about ‘JDM’s fight with Muhammad was his impeccable takedown defense. The Aussie couldn’t be taken down in the fight, which led to the boxer battering the face of ‘Bully B’. When the dust settled, Maddalena could only give credit to the Australian grappler and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt competitor and coach, Craig Jones.

Talking about how Craig Jones trained him, ‘JDM’ said, “Yeah, he helped me a lot. He’s a smart guy, and he helped me a lot. He didn’t just come in and want me to change my whole style, but he just watched me grapple and told me what he thought I’m good at. Obviously, he tweaked some stuff, gave us a couple of things to work on.” And now with the books closed for this one, it seems Craig Jones is ready for yet another expedition.

After assisting JDM to become the king of the welterweights, Craig Jones wants to help the British MMA sensation Tom Aspinall defeat Jon Jones. The fight has not been put on paper, but the UFC CEO and President, Dana White, has guaranteed they will collide in 2025. He said, “Yeah, I’ll say 100%!” So their fight is still in discussion, and as some believe, Aspinall will beat Jones, no one can count out the American phenom’s grappling credentials.

Craig Jones has a remedy for that. To conquer Jon Jones and counter his grappling, which he learnt through years of training with Gordon Ryan, a BJJ black belt and competitor as well, he offered to train Tom Aspinall, as revealed by a post on Instagram that read, Legendary jujitsu fighter and top troll Craig Jones, who just coached Jack Della Maddalena to his win over Belal Muhammad, has said he would be up for cornering Tom Aspinall against Jon Jones, just so annoy his life long rival Gordon Ryan.A kind of pettiness we have to applaud.”

Craig Jones re-ignited his rivalry with Gordon Ryan, saying, “In pursuit of a lifelong career of ruining Gordon’s (Ryan) plans, I’m interested.”

So will he go forward with this offer? Surely, a collaboration between Craig Jones and Tom Aspinall will be a lethal combination. And all that, just to get at Gordon Ryan. Is this his only purpose with the offer? While Craig Jones addresses that, let’s look at the past instance of his rivalry with Ryan.

The rivalry between Craig Jones and Gordon Ryan

The animosity between Craig Jones and Gordon Ryan has been marked by a series of public exchanges, blending sharp criticism with biting humor. The rivalry between the BJJ legends is rooted in their intense competition as top grapplers, their contrasting training styles, and potentially personal animosity stemming from their clashes on the mat.

Gordon Ryan, the man who trains a G.O.A.T. in Jon Jones, has openly criticized Craig Jones’s competitive record, stating, “The guy who ‘wants to compete’ against me… is 0-3 against me and has 3 losses via sub against me. AND LITERALLY TAPPED TO A BACK HEAD AND ARM. To which the humorous Aussie replied with some characteristic joke saying, “One thing’s for sure. Mason Fowler’s girl is satisfied.”

Both Ryan and Jones used to be teammates in their former team, the Danaher Death Squad. However, things took an ugly turn when Gordon Ryan accused Craig Jones of manipulating the team into dissolving the Danaher Death Squad. He stated, “If [Jones] can’t beat you … like if he can’t beat something, or like win at something, he’ll just try to destroy it. He couldn’t beat me, so he joined the team then broke the team up.”

So what’s next for these legends of the world of BJJ and MMA as well? Will we see the two rivals face off from the corners if and when Aspinall and Jones battle it out inside the Octagon? Or they could just go with their favorite weapons, in their home arena, a BJJ mat. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

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